1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,359 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lammon. This is the Artifact, 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 2: a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 2: focusing on particular objects, ideas, and moments in time. On 5 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 2: a recent visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, 6 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 2: I came across one of the weirder pieces of art 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 2: I think you could hope to find in such a place. 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 2: Alongside various historic pieces from around the world, here's something 9 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 2: that seems to stand outside of any given artistic tradition, 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 2: or so it seemed to me. It looks like the 11 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 2: creature from John Carpenter's The thing was in the process 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 2: of turning into an ox when the flamethrowers hit it. 13 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 2: The result a googly eyed head of an ox atop 14 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 2: a wooden pillar of twisting hooves and tissue. Granted, I 15 00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 2: was pretty jet lagged when I first took this side, 16 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: literally struggling to stay awake on my feet, but this 17 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 2: absurdity really captured my attention and woke me up a 18 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 2: little bit. The museum's website lists it as head of 19 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 2: an Ox, while the signage in the museum calls it 20 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 2: head of an ox on a tree trunk. Indeed, this 21 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 2: bizarre sculpture from the second half of the seventeenth century 22 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 2: consists of an ox head carved from marble atop a 23 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 2: tree trunk, with added wooden hoofs. If all of this 24 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 2: was not enough, an oval cavity in the top of 25 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 2: the ox head contains a wrinkled stone that for all 26 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 2: the world looks like a fossilized or petrified brain. So 27 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 2: what is this brain all about? Well, for a while, 28 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 2: according to the museum and the museum piece by curator 29 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 2: Don Hoskin, it was long believed to be the fossilized 30 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 2: or petrified brain of an ox. Subsequent analysis, however, I think, 31 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 2: chiefly by the Natural History Museum in nineteen thirty three, 32 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 2: revealed that it was in fact an osteoma or benign 33 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 2: bone tumor, likely previously attached to the bones of an 34 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 2: elephant or whale. Given its enormous size still relative to 35 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 2: the sculptal system they're attached to, an ostioma can grow 36 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,959 Speaker 2: quite large. According to a twenty eleven paper giant frontal 37 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 2: osteoma by Vishwakarma, at all one human osteoma reached a 38 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 2: size of seven point one by five point three by 39 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 2: five point one centimeters are roughly two point eight by 40 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 2: two by two inches, which they say is one of 41 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 2: the largest human ostioma ever reported. The ostioma in the 42 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 2: ox Head, however, is somewhat larger. As Hoskin explains in 43 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 2: her article, the piece is typical of seventeenth century fascination 44 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 2: with naturally occurring oddities, even if the naturally occurring centerpiece 45 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 2: of the work was not fully understood at the time. 46 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 2: While its origins are shrouded in mystery, the piece likely 47 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 2: came from a collection of curiosities in Villa Altequro and 48 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 2: Padua in northern Italy. The museum acquired the piece in 49 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 2: Venice in eighteen eighty two. The piece is on display now, 50 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 2: so if you find yourself in London, I do recommend 51 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 2: popping over to the Victoria and Albert Museum, go spend 52 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 2: a few moments with it and revel in the morbid 53 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 2: natural curiosity of a bygone age. Tune in for additional 54 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 2: episodes of The Artifact, the Monster Fact or Anamalia Stupendium 55 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 2: each week in the Wednesday slot here and the Stuff 56 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 2: to Blow Your Mind podcast feed. As always You can 57 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 2: email us at contact at stuff to Blow your. 58 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 3: Mind dot com. 59 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 60 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 61 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.